ETON COLLEGE.

Franklin Times, Volume XIX, Issue 93, 12 August 1929, Page 2

ETON COLLEGE.

BOOKED UP UNTIL 1941.

The two sons of Princess Mary and Viscount Laseelles are to go to Eton. Their names have been entered on the Eton list. The elder is expected to join the school in 1936 and the younger in 1937. The Hon. George Lascelles celebrated his sixth birthday this year, and the Hon. Gerald Lascelles is a year younger. The two boys are to attend a preparatory school at Walbcrton, a little place a few miles north of Bognor, shortly. The school is on a magnificent estate near the famous Slindon Woods. Never in the history of Eton have the school lists been so full for many years ahead, says an English paper. There are 25 houses at Eton, and each house is full to capacity until 1941. There is also a record waiting list in the hope that during the next few years some chance vacancy may occur. But this waiting list is out of all proportion to the vacancies which may be reasonably expected to occur. Many parents must, therefore, he disappointed.

The school authorities arc at a loss to understand the ever-increasing demand for vacancies. The school fees have been increased since the war, and the numbers at Eton arc already considerably larger than before the war. There are at present 1116 hoys at Eton, and the average number before the war was about 1000. The present number, however, is a maximum. In order to increase it, a new master’s house would have to be built, and this is not likely to happen because the efficiency of the teaching staff and school accommodation is based on the present figures.

Authorities Puzzled

Another fact that is puzzling the authorities is that while the applications for vacancies have swollen so enormously, the percentage of sons ot old Etonians on the lists is very much smaller than was the case many years ago. It is suggested that whereas the present percentage of sons of old Etonians may be put down as about 40 per cent., the percentage some 20 years ago was nearer 80 per cent. Applications for vacancies are made to the masters who will have the houses at the time that the candidate expects to go to Eton.

Each master only holds a house for 15 years, with the result that most . f the present applications would have to be made to masters who do not yet hold houses. Each of these masters can take the names of 12 new boys every year, but many only guarantee eight vacancies a year. In other words, the school accepts 200 boys every year.

At the present time parents desiring to send boys to Eton would have to put the names of their boys down on the day of their birth to have any hope of acceptance unless, as is rare, a chance vacancy favoured them. There are ony a few more vacancies left for

1942. When the lists are exceptionally full, sons of old Etonians are'generally given preferential treatment.